Carolling at Dalton
by flyin'rabbit
Summary: After being chased out of the McKinley classrooms, the New Directions girls go to Dalton to collect money for their charity - and to visit Kurt, of course. AU-ish, set during AVGC.


**A/N**: This is a one-shot of the kind 'started writing it some time and then didn't look at it for months before finishing it'. It was started at the end of the winter hiatus, so yeah It takes place during AVGC but it probably AU - after being chased out of the McKinley classrooms, the ND girls (minus Lauren, as I wasn't all too fond of her at the time and convinced that Kurt would be back very, very soon, and then she would just leave - which is also why Dalton is portrayed the way it is) go to Dalton to carol instead. So this is more or less a Kurt/ND girls friendship fic. Of sorts. Kind of. I hope no one is (too) OOC :S

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Glee_.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the story, and please review at the bottom! :)

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><p>It was a very normal day at the Dalton Academy for boys. Or at least, that's how it had started. All the students were dressed impeccably, the teachers tried to teach them as much as they could and everything in the school breathed perfection.<p>

Or, if your name happened to be Kurt Hummel, boredom. He was starting to become exasperated by the amount of oneness the school seemed to want to show to the outside world but more importantly, its inhabitants themselves. He had to fit in – everyone told him so, and he tried. Well, he had tried – by now, he was giving up. Sure, he didn't mind making a few concessions to this school because it kept him safe, but he didn't plan on exchanging his own personality for the one all the other boys here had. He wasn't about to change who he was, and if that made him stand out, so be it. He hadn't mentioned to anyone outside Dalton what he'd been told – daily now – about having to fit in, for he knew that his friends would come charging at the school screaming bloody murder.

Or maybe that was just his sometimes overactive imagination.

The day started out like usual. He'd wake up, do his morning routine, have breakfast, drive to school, attend class, have lunch, and attend some more classes before heading home (though most days, there was Warbler rehearsal squished in between his last class and going home). Currently, he was sitting in his final class of the day, and he couldn't keep his mind from wandering.

For once, though, his thoughts weren't occupied by Blaine – which was surprising in itself – but by the upcoming Christmas break. Kurt could barely wait to spend more time with his family and friends than just a weekend (the few hours before he went to bed every night were usually spent doing homework), even if that meant having to miss the boy he was crushing on for more than just a few days.

About five minutes before the end of the class, he heard music. Real, live music. It was too distant to recognise it, but it was definitely not the Warblers. He looked around, and his classmates seemed to hear the music too. Good – at least he wasn't imagining it, then.

Their teacher, Mr Simon, looked rather upset by not having the undivided attention of the students anymore, but instead of giving them a lecture about paying attention, he walked towards the door and opened it tentatively. The music was louder now, and Kurt guessed that it might come from the main hall.

"Can we go and see what's going on?" Sean asked eagerly. After all, those were girls' voices. If there was something Kurt had learned over the past weeks, it was that some of the boys here really never got the chance to meet girls outside their families. He couldn't imagine anything like that – as much as he appreciated his male company in this school, he would not survive without girls around every now and then.

With a heavy sigh, Mr Simon checked his watch. "Alright," he gave in. "I will go with you. No running, or shouting, or misbehaving."

Rolling his eyes, Kurt packed his bag before joining his classmates. As if any of these students would ever even _think_ of doing any of those things. This wasn't McKinley, where running was the only way to move forward and shouting was the only way to be heard (apart from singing, that was).

On their way down the hall, Kurt noticed that some other teachers must've allowed their students to leave class early as well. More and more students made their way downstairs, curious about what was going on there.

The closer they came to the staircase, the clearer the singing became. It had to be a small group of girls, by the sounds of it, and they were singing Christmas carols.

Come to think of it, the current soloist sounded _very_ familiar to Kurt.

No way. There was _no way_.

Breaking away from the group (like some others had done before him), Kurt sped up, reaching the staircase before the large group of students that was emerging from everywhere in the school. He had to see this to believe this.

He wasn't dreaming. Standing still halfway between the first floor and the main hall, he caught sight of the six girls – dressed in atrocious sweaters that made him cringe – carolling as if their lives depended on it. A group of boys had already formed around them, but Kurt was sure that he could charge through them if he had to.

Before he even reached them, though, he had, apparently, already been spotted, as Mercedes stopped mid-solo, confusing the other girls thoroughly, if their sputtering was any indication.

"Kurt!" Mercedes cried out, her face lighting up considerably.

"Mercedes!" He couldn't help speaking up a little as well. It wasn't every day that your best friend, along with half of your old Glee club showed up at your school. The other girls had now spotted him as well, and the boys around them were pushed aside hastily in an attempt to get to him.

Mercedes quickly enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug, and it became even more bone-crushing when the other girls joined in too. After exchanging smiles and small hugs with everyone, he wanted to ask them what they were doing there. Quinn, however, spoke up before him.

"We were hoping we'd run into you! For all we knew, your classes could've been over already!"

At that exact moment, the final bell sounded, and Kurt grinned at her. "No, you're right on time. But what are you doing here?" He shot Rachel a glance. "Warblers practice isn't on Fridays, you know."

Rachel crossed her arms indignantly, and huffed. "That's not why we came! We saw you at Sectionals, remember?"

"I don't know how many times we saw Vocal Adrenaline last year," Kurt countered, realising too late that that was, after all, still a slightly sore spot for Rachel, and New Directions as a whole.

"All you do is walk one way, and back again. Maybe move forward, but that's about it. Not much to spy on," Quinn reminded him. "Anyway, we're carolling here."

"For charity," Mercedes clarified for Kurt, nodding towards a sign they'd made.

"Not for the bus trip to Regionals?" Kurt asked. "So you didn't bring cookies with marihuana – or what was it again? – in them this time?"

Santana snorted, and Brittany looked confused. Before she could say anything, Rachel responded, "That's an awful idea, Kurt, and think of what a horrid impression we would've made on your friends and classmates…"

"I think we should go back to carolling," Mercedes said, glancing around. There's quite a crowd now…"

"Are you allowed to be in here?" Kurt asked, aware that that wasn't really an obstacle for anyone from New Directions to be here (or anywhere, really)… himself included.

"We already talked to the school board, and they allowed us some time to sing our songs," Rachel replied.

"Besides, even if we weren't allowed to be here, we totally would've come anyway," Santana added, looking around with a happy smirk. "Look at all the prep boy candy running around – you sure picked a good school, Hummel. I think I may be visiting you more often from now on."

"I don't board here," Kurt reminded her. "If you come visit me, the only other teenage guy you'll come across is Finn, and you don't need to pretend to be visiting me to see him."

Santana's smirk grew at this, though Kurt knew she was only trying to rile up Rachel even more. Before things could get out of hand, however, Mercedes was pushing both girls towards where they'd previously been standing, and they started singing again.

When the girls finished their rendition of _We need a little Christmas_, all the boys around started applauding enthusiastically. "What's going on here?" Kurt suddenly heard from next to him – the girls didn't notice, they just started another song.

Looking sideways, Kurt discovered Wes and David standing there, frowning at the girls confusedly. "They're carolling for charity," he told them. "The school board said it's okay."

"I was sure the Warblers were the only group allowed to sing here," Wes muttered, clearly planning on checking the Dalton rules on this later.

"I'll admit though, this is a nice change," David said appreciatively. "Some of these guys don't see enough girls, so this is almost like a treat for them."

"And that, in turn, will help them raise more money for charity," Wes added. "They're smart."

"Hey, guys!" Blaine greeted them happily, obviously just arriving (he was probably one of those poor students who had to wait for the actual bell before he was allowed to leave the classroom). Kurt felt a little faint. "Why are there girls singing?"

"It's for charity," David told him.

Blaine stood on his tiptoes to see the group better; Kurt had wanted to stand a little closer to them, but hadn't been able to do so. "Hey," Blaine said, sounding a bit confused. "Kurt – aren't those your friends from New Directions? Isn't that Mercedes over there, and isn't that – "

"Rachel," Kurt finished for him. "Uh, yeah, it's them. I didn't know they were coming either," he added for good measure in an attempt to placate the two council members.

"New Directions? Where?" Pushing past Wes and David, Thad tried to get a better view of the carolling girls as well. Like Blaine, he wasn't very tall, which meant that he couldn't see them all too well.

"Over there," Wes told him, nodding ahead. Shooting his fellow council member another look, he added, "But I'm sure you already knew that."

"Why would they send half their group here?" Thad asked confusedly. "They _are_ aware that we'll most likely face each other again at Regionals, aren't they?"

David shrugged. "I don't see why they wouldn't be aware of that. We know it, at any rate."

"So why are they here?" Wes asked, clearly intrigued by this. "Why don't they go anywhere else?"

"They know that it's accepted here if you happen to like singing," Kurt suggested. "After much prodding from yours truly, Finn – my stepbrother – told me that when they tried carolling at McKinley, they were all but chased out of the classrooms. One of the teachers even threw a shoe at them."

At that, the other boys went silent, obviously not used to that kind of abuse. Kurt suspected that the girls may have also come here because most of the boys here came from rich families, and had quite a lot of money to spare. He chose to keep his mouth shut about that, though.

The girls sang some more songs, and the crowd around them only grew. It was clear that girls weren't a common sight in the Dalton Academy halls. When they were done singing, only some of the boys left. The others seemed to be trying to get close enough to the girls to ask their number or strike up a (potentially flirty) conversation.

Kurt thanked his lucky stars that his companions weren't all too interested in the girls' numbers for various reasons, as that might have caused some painful situations in the future. Besides, as much as he loved his girls, being trampled by a bunch of boys who tried to reach them wasn't on his Christmas list this year.

As a result, they walked away from the flock of boys and observed them from a distance. "Are you going back home already?" Blaine asked Kurt, who shook his head.

"I think I'll wait for them," he replied, gesturing towards his McKinley friends. "Perhaps I can convince one or two of them to ride home with me."

"I don't think that'll be too hard," Tina suddenly spoke up next to him. "We all squeezed into Quinn's car, but that's only built for five and we're with six – it wasn't exactly comfortable. Plus, somehow Rachel and Santana ended up sitting next to each other. I don't know how we all arrived here alive and well."

Kurt could see the problem there. "Didn't Lauren come with you?" he asked. He didn't really know the newest New Directions member personally, but he'd heard enough about her to know that she was definitely something else.

Quinn, who'd arrived with Tina, snorted. "Lauren Zizes? She stays in the club because she wants to get it on with Puck, or something. She thinks show choir is just stupid. Sure, at school, she participates in everything, but outside, she probably won't. She knows just as well as we do that she's only in the club so we've got twelve members."

Even though he knew they didn't blame him for this, Kurt still smiled apologetically. At that moment, Brittany approached them, grinning widely as she noticed Kurt (though she'd seen him earlier as well, so that was a little odd).

"Hey, Kurtie!" she greeted him happily.

Kurt smiled back at her, inwardly cringing at her nickname for him. "Hey, Britt. Looking forward to Christmas already?"

Brittany nodded enthusiastically, but the other two girls suddenly looked alarmed. "We went to see Santa a few days ago, and I asked him for Artie to be able to walk again! Have you sent him your list yet?"

Kurt quickly glanced at Tina and Quinn, not really understanding what Brittany meant. "What do you mean, Britt?" he asked. "You know that Artie's paralysed, right? He can't walk."

Brittany nodded earnestly. "But Santa's magic, so he can fix it, right?"

No way. Kurt stared at Brittany open-mouthed. She still believed in Santa Claus? Over her shoulder, he saw the two other girls send him the most minute of nods.

He tried not to make his smile appear too forced as he replied, "Of course, boo. Santa can fix anything." Over her shoulder, he tried to catch Tina and Quinn's attention, before jerking his head slightly towards his fellow Warblers. They had never met Brittany before, after all, so they weren't used to the way her mind worked. Plus, they looked about to interrupt. Catching the hint, Quinn and Tina signalled for the other boys to follow them, so that they could explain the situation to them. Kurt hoped that he'd get a full explanation of this as well later on.

When the boys were out of earshot, Brittany leaned towards Kurt conspiringly. "Did you ask Santa for one of those birdies to be your boyfriend?" she asked, and Kurt could feel himself flush.

"No, I didn't," he answered. Even if Santa Claus really existed, he seriously doubted that he could make Blaine see the light, and undertake some action. Besides – if Kurt told Brittany that he _had_ wished for Blaine for Christmas (even though he hadn't really), she would expect that something had changed between them, the next time they saw each other. And that just wasn't going to happen. Not to Kurt.

Brittany pouted. "Why not? Santa can make anything happen."

Shaking his head a bit, Kurt gave the girl a hug. It was strange how he never expected to specifically miss Brittany and her simple way of thinking, but now that she was standing right in front of him, he realised that he had. "I've missed you, Britt," he muttered. If only things were as simple as Brittany thought they were.

"I miss you too, Kurtie," she whispered back, sounding a little sad. "When are you coming back?"

"I can't come back, boo," Kurt told her. "Remember, Karofsky's still there, and I just can't risk it. I wish I could come back, though. I miss all of you so much."

"Why don't you just wish for Karofsky to leave McKinley?" Brittany asked, her face lighting up.

Oh, the number of times Kurt had wished for that. "It's too late for that, Britt," he made up. "Remember, it's almost Christmas. If I wrote a letter now, it would never arrive in time for Santa to make it happen. Maybe next year."

Brittany nodded solemnly. "I'll wish for that too, next year," she promised him.

"But I'll be home all the time during the Christmas break," he reminded her. "You can come visit me anytime you want to."

Tina and Quinn returned, the four Warblers following them looking thoroughly confused. _Right_. Kurt had never really told Blaine the extent of Brittany's… insanity. Soon after, they were joined by Rachel, who was smiling a little too widely.

"Everyone's so polite here," she announced when she reached them, patting the bag she was carrying – which, supposedly, contained the money they'd been handed. "We've made a _lot _of money, and I've received more compliments on my voice from them than in my whole life."

"That's because they don't _know_ you," Quinn retorted. Rachel just scoffed and turned away.

"Where are Mercedes and Santana?" she asked. "I told my dads I'd be home in time for dinner."

"Your _dads_? As in, more than one?" David asked, looking surprised.

"I have two gay dads, yes," Rachel replied in an annoyingly superior sounding tone. "I know it's somewhat unusual, but I assure you, I'm perfectly normal, if not much more talented than most people."

Kurt coughed, trying to cover up the laughter that erupted in his throat at Rachel's comment. It appeared that Rachel's definition of 'normal' differed greatly from his – and the other girls', as a matter of fact. Tina was laughing silently, having turned away from the group for a moment, Quinn was sporting an expression of disbelief, and Brittany looked more confused than normally.

"Mercedes and Santana are probably getting showered with attention right now," Quinn told Rachel once she snapped out of her daze. "Oh, and phone numbers, probably. Most guys aren't interested in girls who just talk about themselves."

"Or talk at all," Kurt muttered – after all, he doubted Santana would use any of the guys here for more than just a quick hook-up. Quinn grinned at him, obviously thinking the same thing.

Eventually, Mercedes managed to shake off all the boys as well (though Kurt could easily see that she hadn't minded the attention at all). They had to forcefully drag Santana away from all the boys she was flirting with. While Kurt said his goodbyes to Blaine and the others, the girls argued about who was going home in which car. Kurt was just glad that they had remembered to split up Rachel and Santana (and Quinn, for that matter) this time (or at least not put both of them in _his_ car).

He couldn't wait for the winter break to start – he had really missed these people's insanity.

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><p><strong>AN**: So... what do you think? :P Let me know, please leave a review! :D


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